Bill Cosby's Walk of Fame Star in Spotlight After Conviction

With Bill Cosby heading to prison, what does it mean for his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame? Gordon Tokumatsu reports for NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Sept. 25, 2018. (Published Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018)

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce Tuesday issued a statement refusing to remove disgraced actor Bill Cosby's star from the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In the statement, the chamber said that Walk of Fame stars are "intended to be permanent" and that it does not remove stars from the Walk of Fame, even when "the personal lives of inductees do not measure up to public standards..."

Calls for Cosby's star to be removed had grown as the actor faced sentencing for a 2004 sexual assault on Andrea Constand, a Temple University women's basketball administrator, at his Philadelphia home.

"The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is sending a horrible, a despicable message: women's bodies, women's lives, women's worth means nothing. All we care about is money and our tradition of honoring someone that puts down $30,000 for a star," said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, which led a petition to have Cosby's star removed.

Through a spokeswoman, the chamber of commerce declined a request for interview.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historical record of entertainment figures past and present. Once installed, the stars become part of the historic fabric of the Walk of Fame, a "designated historic cultural landmark," and are intended to be permanent. The stars only commemorate the recipient's professional accomplishments. It is regrettable when the personal lives of inductees do not measure up to public standards and expectations; however, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce does not remove stars from the Walk of Fame.

Cosby was arrested in December 2015. More than 60 woman have accused the 81-year-old actor of sexual misconduct, but his trial originally ended in a deadlocked jury in 2017, even as jurors heard deposition excerpts from 2005 and 2006 in which the star admitted to giving quaaludes - a type of sedative - to women with whom he wanted to have sex.

Tuesday's sentencing capped off Cosby's retrial, which found the actor guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting Constand.

Cosby Sentenced to 3 to 10 Years in Prison

Bill Cosby was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. The judge also declared Cosby a “sexually violent predator,” which means he will have to undergo monthly counseling and register with police if he leaves prison.